Committee of Israeli Parliament recognizes Armenian Genocide, plans to include in plenary session

17:34, 1 August, 2016

YEREVAN, AUGUST 1, ARMENPRESS. On August 1, the Committee of Education and Sport of the Israeli Knesset hold a discussion on the Armenian Genocide.

On July 5th the Knesset decided to send the issue of the Armenian Genocide to the Committee of Education and Sport of the Knesset for additional research and discussion. After the discussion in the Committee of Education and Sport of the Knesset the Chairman of the Committee Mr. Yakov Margi declared that the Committee of Education and Sport of the Israeli Knesset officially recognizes the Armenian Genocide. Moreover, he called upon the Israeli government to recognize the Armenian Genocide and upon the Knesset and the Speaker of the Knesset Mr. Yuli Edelstein to recognize the Armenian Genocide. He promised to initiate petition in order to bring the issue of the recognition of the Armenian Genocide to the agenda of the Knesset.

After years of Israel's refusal to recognize Armenian genocide which
claimed more than 1 million lives, Knesset committee says 'It is our
moral obligation to recognize the holocaust of the Armenian nation.'

Jonathan Benedek/TPS|Published: 01.08.16 , 23:13

The Education, Culture and Sports Committee decided to recognize the
Armenian genocide on Monday at a meeting initiated by Meretz
Chairwoman MK Zehava Galon.

“It is our moral obligation to recognize the holocaust of the Armenian
nation,” said the committee’s chairman and Shas MK Yaakov Margi.

The declaration by the committee represents a symbolic and important
change in light of Israel’s maintenance hitherto of a policy to
refrain from officially recognizing the Armenian genocide in which
approximately 1.5 million Armenians were reportedly massacred by
Ottoman Turkish forces during World War I.

Israel has previously abstained from recognizing the genocide in order
to avoid potential negative repercussions on its relationship with
Turkey. Israel signed a reconciliation agreement with the country last
month following a strain in bilateral relations since the summer of
2010.

Nevertheless, MK Margi called upon Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to
follow through on remarks he made last year at a committee meeting
during which he said that he would work to have the Knesset formally
recognize the Armenian genocide.

“I will try to promote the issue and I hope that MKs will know the
right way to vote at the moment of truth,” Edelstein said in July
2015.

“I visited one of the Armenian memorial sites and it is very hard to
ignore what I saw there,” he continued . “I expect that I, and the
Knesset, act appropriately so that we can make decisions according to
the moral standards of a democratic state.”

MK Galon also lamented Israel’s continued failure to recognize the
Armenian genocide.

“Each year we instill false hope in the people sitting here,” said
Galon. “It is a disservice to the Knesset to continue going on and on
about this issue, year after year, without reaching a decision that
the State of Israel and the Knesset recognize the genocide of the
Armenian people.”

Georgette Avakian, chairwoman of the Armenian National Committee in
Jerusalem, echoed the remarks made by Margi and Galon.

“The Knesset and the president of the State of Israel must recognize
the genocide of our people,” she insisted.

An Israeli parliamentary committee ran an end-run around long-standing
government policy when it issued a declaration recognizing the killing
of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman Turkish forces during
World War I as “genocide.” The declaration was made by the Education,
Culture and Sports Committee following an effort spearheaded by Member
of Knesset (parliament) Zahava Gal-on, head of the Meretz Party.
Successive governments have refused to acknowledge the mass killings
as genocide because of the delicate nature of Israel’s diplomatic
relations with Turkey and Ankara’s extreme sensitivity on the subject.
But recognizing genocide is an issue which transcends traditional
political alliances in the Jewish state, largely because of its
citizens’ experiences as victims of another genocide. In fact, the
Armenian declaration united Gal-on, who chairs the nation’s most
left-wing party with the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, a member of which
chairs the Education, Culture and Sports Committee. Knesset Speaker
Yuli Edelstein, a member of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Likud Party,
had opened the door to genocide recognition a year ago when he told
the committee that he would work toward that end. The issue will not
end with the committee declaration. Those who favor genocide
recognition continue to demand action by the parliament and the
president on behalf of the state.

The Knesset’s Education, Culture and Sports Committee on Monday
announced it recognizes the Armenian genocide and urged the government
to formally acknowledge the 1915 mass slaughter of 1.5 Armenians as
such.

“It is our moral obligation to recognize the Armenian genocide,” said
committee chair Yakov Margi (Shas) at a committee meeting.

Margi expressed regret that the State of Israel does not currently
recognize the genocide by Ottoman Turks 101 years ago, and called on
Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein to do so.

Israel’s refusal thus far to formally recognize the Armenian slaughter
as genocide is based on geopolitical and strategic considerations,
primary among them its relations with Turkey, which vehemently denies
that Ottoman Turks committed genocide. Israel and Turkey signed a
rapprochement deal in June, upgrading their diplomatic relationship
after years of frosty ties worsened by a fatal melee between IDF
soldiers and Turkish activists aboard a Gaza-bound ship in 2010.

Earlier this month, Edelstein (Likud) urged Israel to recognize the
Armenian genocide, despite the friction it might cause with Turkey.

“We must not ignore, belittle or deny this terrible genocide,”
Edelstein declared as the Knesset marked the 1915 mass killing. “We
must disconnect the current interests, bound to this time and place,
from the difficult past, of which this dark chapter is a part.”

President Reuven Rivlin, who was one of the most outspoken advocates
for recognition of the genocide during his time as Knesset speaker,
eschewed using the term during the centenary commemoration last year,
disappointing Armenian leaders. He used it, however, several weeks
earlier at a different event.

Israel’s ongoing denial of the Armenian genocide has thus far survived
several debates in the Knesset and even efforts by a former education
minister to add the topic to school curricula.

Leora Eisenberg: Is Israel being honest with itself in issue of Armenian Genocide?

23:04, 05.08.2016

Israel has partially recognized the Armenian Genocide, but it is necessary to understand whether it is being honest with itself, wrote Leora Eisenberg, blogger of Times of Israel, who shoots a documentary about the Armenian district of Jerusalem.

“Tucked away between the constant thud of children’s feet in the Jewish Quarter and the intoxicating smell of the Arab shuk is the Armenian Quarter. Almost alarmingly quiet, the calmest quarter is walled off — and those who have lived in the Old City for years are unlikely to have ever entered.

I lower my head to squeeze through the arch, and am greeted by a large square. You might see children running to the soccer field, old men playing backgammon, or maybe a priest walking to the seminary across the street.

You will probably hear Armenian, but some of the young deacons might be speaking Russian. The stones are the same as those of any other quarter, but the crosses that decorate the area are uniquely Armenian.”

“Armenians have been in Jerusalem, uninterrupted, since the seventh century.”

“We asked our interviewees a variety of questions — where are they from, where are their parents from, what do you like most about Jerusalem, etc. But the question that taught us the most was the following:

“What is your struggle, as an Armenian in Israel?”

Each priest whom I asked paused for moment.

“Let the world be honest,” said one. “The Armenian Genocide is a fact. Whether or not you recognize it, it happened.”

“It is indeed our ethical prerogative to recognize the massacre and deportation of 1.5 million+ people.[…] But, in my opinion, we, as human beings, must award all those massacred the humanity that they were systematically denied.”

“Geopolitical concerns certainly play a role here; I can’t deny that relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan certainly are important. But relations with Armenia and Israel’s Armenian community are not trivial — and, at the end of the day, Israel’s moral compass must point in the direction of recognizing the genocide that Hitler trivialized with his famous words: “Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?”

Answer: we should.

It seems that we speak about it every few months in Israel. We bring it to one Knesset committee and then another. On August 1, we finally had some success — the Education, Culture and Sports Committee finally recognized the Armenian Genocide with support ranging from the far right to the far left. Certainly a step forward — but is Israel, as the first priest said, being honest with itself?” Eisenberg writes.

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Head of Jerusalem Armenian National Committee Georgette Avagyan told Mediamax that Israeli government continues to pressure the Knesset members regarding recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

“The members of Israeli Parliament are expected to discuss the resolution on recognition and condemnation of the Armenian Genocide once again in November. Many Knesset members told us that they recognize the Genocide but are pressured by the government. They are frightened,” Georgette Avagyan told Mediamax.

“The biggest issue today is caused by Azerbaijan. Defense Minister of Israel Avigdor Lieberman in particular has very close ties with Azerbaijan. Unfortunately, Lieberman is the one who hinders our work greatly. In other countries Turkey is responsible for hindering recognition of the Armenian Genocide, but Turkey says nothing in Israel, as its friend and ally Azerbaijan already has large influence,” she said.

Meanwhile, Georgette Avagyan Office expressed the hope that “Israeli MPs will be able to find the right solution for this situation.”

“I hope that the resolution will be adopted this time, because the majority of the population of Israel (around 80%) state it is a shame that Israel has not yet recognized and condemned the Armenian Genocide”, she noted.

Georgette Avagyan believes that once Israel recognizes the Genocide, many other countries will follow, USA especially.

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Israeli Knesset Deputy Speaker Tali Ploskov said in an interview with Mediamax that "Today Israel does not have the opportunity to recognize Armenian Genocide on state level”.

“President of Israel and President of Knesset said that they accept the fact of the tragedy. But the political relations between Israel and other states do not allow Israel to recognize Armenian Genocide on state level. Although all of us deep inside accept that horrible tragedy and offer our support to the Armenian side,” Knesset Deputy Speaker said to Mediamax correspondent during her visit to Yerevan.

Nevertheless, Tali Ploskov emphasized that progress was registered in the process of recognition of the Armenian Genocide by Israel, when Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee officially recognized it in June, 2016.

“The next step is supposed to be the recognition by President of Israel or Minister of Foreign Affairs, but I am not quite sure it will happen. This issue is not going to change yet. Such issues are not solved quickly,” he said.

Knesset representative noted that it is very important for Israel that “Everyone in Yerevan understands that we do not have anything against Armenia”.

“Yes, we cannot declare what our Armenian counterparts would like us to say. We have reasons that everyone understands. But this does not mean we cannot cooperate,” the MP said

Tali Ploskov informed that he is in Armenia to participate in the celebration of the 25th anniversary of Independence of Armenia.

“Besides the main purpose of my visit, my counterpart Artak Zakaryan and I decided to hold a conference for entrepreneurs, which will host representatives of different spheres from both countries. We plan to hold the first such meeting on September 24,” Tali Ploskov said.

Israeli Knesset Deputy Speaker informed that he will have meetings with the Speaker and MPs of Armenian National Assembly to discuss inter-partliamentary cooperation related issues.

“Last year cooperation was intensified in different spheres between our two countries, which should be continuous. We should work hard to achieve it. I am convinced that there will be no obstacle on our way,” Israeli Knesset Deputy Speaker Tali Ploskov said in an interview to Mediamax.

In 1981 Ara George Jeretzian became the first of more than 20 Armenians whose name appears on the list of the Righteous Among the Nations – an honorific used by the State of Israel to describe non-Jews who risked their lives during the Holocaust to save Jews from extermination by the Nazis. During World War II, Jeretzian saved more than 400 Jews by hiding them in a hospital that he founded in occupied Budapest.

One of five children, Ara Jeretzian was born in Constantinople in 1918. Soon after his birth his entire family fled to Hungary to escape the on-going violence against Armenians. In the 1930s Jeretzian joined the youth movement of Hungary’s Fascist Arrow Cross Party, but resigned when the persecution of Jews began. He went into tailoring.

In March 1944 Budapest was occupied by the German army. The city’s Jews were subjected to a curfew and ordered into a ghetto. More than 220,000 people were supposed to be moved there prior to being sent to death camps in Poland.

Jeretzian was quick to spot the parallels between the events his family witnessed 30 years earlier and what he was observing in the very heart of Europe.

His son, Ara Jeretzian Jr, a businessman in Vienna, explains: “His mother told a lot of stories about the persecution of minorities in Turkey, and so my father felt a moral obligation to do everything he could to help other people who found themselves in the same circumstances. After all, he was only human.”

The Jeretzian family (left to right): Ara’s wife Maria, daughter Sofia, mother Sofia, son Ara Jeretzian Jr and Ara. From the family archive of Ara Jeretzian.

In the fall of 1944 the Soviet army approached Budapest. Ara Jeretzian, just 26 years old, was appointed commander of civil defence in the sixth district of Budapest. Ilby Frank, one of the people whom Jeretzian saved, continues the story: “As Jeretzian himself told us, he left the Fascist Party at the beginning of the war, but he didn’t draw a lot of attention to that. So he put on his old military uniform and went to the interior minister. Jeretzian told him that the Russians were very close, there were lots of wounded people in the city and the existing hospitals couldn’t cope. He proposed the creation of a new hospital where he would gather the best doctors and surgeons. The minister signed the decree that gave the hospital everything it needed. It was just incredible.”

According to Frank, Jeretzian also stole several seals and letters signed by the minister, which he later used to protect the hospital’s residents.

Together with well-known Hungarian-Jewish psychiatrist Ferenc Völgyesi, he opened a clinic in the basement of 1 Zichy Jeno Street. This clinic would save save hundreds of lives.

Robert Holczer was just 15 years old when he and his mother moved to his aunt’s house, trying to escape Nazi persecution in the late fall of 1944. His story is kept in the archives of the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. His aunt’s one-bedroom apartment sheltered ten relatives, but despite such cramped quarters they were all happy because they could sleep peacefully, at least. Holczer believes the decision to move to this house was fateful – that was where Jeretzian and Völgyesi’s clinic had opened. “Jeretzian was a tall, handsome man. He wore a Fascist uniform and scared a lot of people, but he was very kind to us,” Holczer remembers.

Ara Jeretzian moved to the basement hospital with several loyal associates. Together with Völgyesi, they were able to staff the clinic with top-tier professionals. Anyone who was persecuted by the Nazis could find refuge in the hospital, whether as a patient or a member of staff. To make this happen, Jeretzian procured false papers. They managed to save 440 Jews in total, including 40 doctors. The Arrow Cross Party rarely bothered with inspections, despite numerous reports that Jeretzian was hiding Jews. The Fascists were distracted by detailed accounts of the hospital’s medical prowess.

1 Zichy Jeno Street, Budapest

In his book “Stories of a Survivor,” Canadian physician Norbert Kerényi shares his recollections of his time in the hospital. Kerényi was 17 years old at the time. One day, he met a former high school classmate on the street. The boy, wearing a Nazi uniform, didn’t shake his old friend’s hand, but instead reported to the commander of the sixth district that he had seen a Jew entering the hospital and asked for permission to arrest him. The commander (Jeretzian himself) said that he knew this Jew personally, adding that if the young man was so full of patriotic fervor, he should go to the front and fight there.

The clinic played an important role in the city’s life by providing free medical assistance to the district’s residents. In November 1944, when the Soviet army surrounded Budapest, the clinic was turned into a full-fledged military hospital. During the siege, the Nazis were impressed by Jeretzian’s patriotism, as he treated Hungarian soldiers and Budapest residents at his own expense.

The forged documents of one of Jeretzian’s patients. From the Open Society Institute archive.

“The days during the siege were full of events, with constant actions and interactions. In a way, they could to a certain extent be compared to ‘Forty Days of Musa Dagh’ written by Franz Werfel, describing a small group of Armenians resisting a holocaust of Turkish design. We had essentially passive resistance, using forged papers and the hospital’s protection,” writes Norbert Kerényi.

Before the occupation, more than 250,000 Jews lived in Budapest. During the Holocaust, most were annihilated by the Nazis. Mass murders continued all the way untill the Soviet army entered the city.

Any Jews found outside the ghetto were taken on a death march toward the Danube.

Several non-Jewish families lived in the hospital building. Some of them hoped that this would give them protection when the Red Army entered the city. But even then, there were those who continued to inform on their neighbors.

Ara Jeretzian with his wife Maria, daughter Sofia, and son Ara, 1956. From the family archive of Ara Jeretzian.

“Not long before the military assault on the city, a neighbor informed on us, and the Fascists attempted to disarm Jeretzian’s people to stop them from guarding us. He seemed somewhat bewildered. We all got ready to pack up and go, but suddenly Ara was back with some document from a higher authority and ordered them to leave because this was a protected territory and the clinic was working for the government,” Holczer recalls.

Here’s how Ilby Frank remembered this story: “Early in the morning on January 2 we were woken by the Hungarian Nazis. They ordered us out into the courtyard. The winter air was very cold. Jeretzian came in wearing a Nazi uniform, and he ordered them not to touch anyone until he had spoken with the higher-ups. Several hours later he was back with a letter signed by the minister. Two days later Jeretzian admitted to my husband that he couldn’t find the minister because the government was already in chaos. He simply took a piece of paper with the minister’s signature, wrote the letter himself and stamped it with one of the seals he stole earlier.”

Ara Jeretzian Jr with his daughters Constance and Clarissa. From the family archive of Ara Jeretzian.

On February 13, 1945 Budapest was overtaken by the Soviet army, which began arresting Nazis and their collaborators. After the city was liberated, Ara Jeretzian was arrested and spent about six months in the custody of the Soviet intelligence service. “There he met an Armenian prison guard who advised him not to sign any confessions. Thus, after suffering through much torture, he was finally freed,” says Jeretzian Jr.

In the early 1960s Ara Jeretzian moved to Vienna. He kept in touch with very few of the people he saved.

“Father didn’t think much of gratitude. For him, everything he did was a matter of course,” says his son.

It wasn’t until 1982 that the Israeli Ambassador to Austria and the bishop of the Armenian church presented Ara Jeretzian with a Yad Vashem medal at a ceremony in the Armenian church of Vienna.

Ara Jeretzian died in 2010. He was 92.

“For many years nobody was interested in this story of salvation. But over the last few years, my father has been awarded several prizes posthumously. Right now, they are filming a documentary about him, and they plan to hang a memorial plaque on the building where the hospital was,” Ara Jeretzian Jr. says proudly.

Israel National News published an extremely interesting article written by Turkish journalist Uzay Bulut on the discrimination and persecution that Turkish Jews have suffered since the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923.

This is an important exposé since the Turkish government has gone to great lengths for many decades to deceive the international community that there is great tolerance for Jews in Turkish and that Jews lived in a democratic society which protected their civil and religious rights. The aim of this Turkish propaganda campaign was two-fold: To keep Israeli leaders and American Jews happy so they would support Turkish interests in Washington and enlist the political lobbying clout of American Jews in Washington to counter congressional efforts to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

The Turkish government back in 1992 commemorated with a big splash the 500th anniversary of Jews fleeing from Spain and relocating in Turkey. Ankara co-opted many of the Jewish community leaders, including the Chief Rabbi, into propagating this false historical narrative. When I wrote an editorial back then exposing the lies of that celebration, I got a letter from the head of the commemorative events, asking why I wanted to cast a negative light on their celebration. Interestingly, that Jewish leader did not contest any of the facts in my article on the persecution of Jews in the Ottoman Empire throughout the centuries.

Bulut’s article is significant because it describes the persecution of Jews not centuries ago but during our own times in ‘modern’ Turkey! The article begins with a news item from the Turkish Milliyet newspaper reporting that dozens of historic Jewish synagogues “run the risk of disappearing forever.” One of the main reasons why these synagogues are disappearing is that the majority of the Jewish community of Turkey has departed from Turkey fleeing from “systematic discrimination and campaigns of forced Turkification and Islamization.” Bulut reports that in 1923, at the beginning of the Turkish Republic, there were 81,454 Jews in Turkey. That number has dwindled to “fewer than 15,000.” The last of Jewish schools was shut down by the Turkish government in 1937, according to Bulut.

Here is the list of the major episodes of Turkish persecution and discrimination against Jews and other non-Turkish minorities in recent decades, as compiled by Turkish journalist Bulut:

— The Turkish Law of Family adopted in 1934 forced Jews and other non-Turks to abandon their ethnic names and adopt Turkish sounding names.

— “Jews were deprived of their freedom of movement at least three times: in 1923, 1925 and 1927.” Bulut also mentions that “during the Holocaust, Turkey opened its doors to very few Jewish and political refugees and even took measures to prevent Jewish immigration in 1937.”

— Hate speech and anti-Semitic comments are very prevalent in Turkish society and the media. Activities in support of Israel by the Jewish community were banned by the Republic of Turkey.

— The Turkish government has assigned secret code numbers to individuals of Jewish, Armenian and Greek descent. That way the government can track them down and expose their background when necessary.

— “Laws that excluded Jews and other non-Muslims from certain professions:” The Republic of Turkey banned these minorities from holding government positions. “Thousands of non-Muslims lost their jobs,” according to Bulut.

— Prohibition of the use in public of all languages except Turkish. The “Citizen Speak Turkish” campaign in the first years of the Republic mainly targeted the Jewish community, according to Rifat Bali, the leading scholar of Turkish Jewry.

— “The Jews of Eastern Thrace were targeted by pogroms from June 21-July 4, 1934. These began with a boycott of Jewish businesses, and were followed by physical attacks on Jewish-owned buildings, which were first looted, then set on fire. Jewish men were beaten, and some Jewish women reportedly raped. Terrorized by this turn of events, more than 15,000 Jews fled the region.”

— The conscription of non-Muslims in the Turkish Army (1941-42). “On April 22, 1941, 12,000 non-Muslims (also known as “the twenty classes”), including Jewish men — even the blind and physically disabled — were conscripted. But instead of doing active service, they were sent to work in labor battalions under terrible conditions for the construction of roads and airports. Some of them lost their lives or caught diseases.”

— “On Nov. 11, 1942, the Turkish government enacted the Wealth Tax Law, which divided the taxpayers in four groups, as per their religious backgrounds: Muslims, non-Muslims, converts (‘donme’), i.e. members of a Sabbatean sect of Jewish converts to Islam, and foreign nationals. Only 4.94 percent of Turkish Muslims had to pay the Wealth Tax. The Armenians were the most heavily taxed, followed by Jews. According to the scholar Başak İnce, ‘the underlying reason was the elimination of minorities from the economy, and the replacement of the non-Muslim bourgeoisie by its Turkish counterpart.’”

— “During the 6-7 September 1955 government-instigated attacks against non-Muslim communities in Istanbul, Turkish mobs devastated the Greek, Armenian, and Jewish districts of the city, destroying and looting their places of worship, homes, businesses, cemeteries, and schools, among others.”

— “Murders of Jews: Yasef Yahya, a 39-year-old Jewish dentist was brutally murdered on August 21, 2003 in his office in the Şişli district of Istanbul, many Jewish lawyers and doctors in Istanbul removed the signs on their offices in order not to have the same fate as Yahya.”

This list of continued harassment and persecution of Jews and other minorities should be sent to the international media each time that the Turkish government misrepresents its record of mistreatment of the Jewish community in Turkey.

It is a shame that the Israeli government does not whisper a single word of criticism in the face of such persecution of fellow Jews in Turkey. On the contrary, Israeli officials cowardly buckle under pressure from Turkey to deny the Armenian Genocide and ban this crime against humanity from Israeli TV and academic conferences.

Would you think that the government of Israel will return the favour? Don't hold your breath!

Plattsburgh Press Republican

May 8 2017

Swiss-Armenian lobbied for billions owed to Holocaust survivors

By SADIE CRUZ Special to the Press-Republican

May 8, 2017

PLATTSBURGH— Millions of dormant accounts owned by Jewish people during the Holocaust still rested in Swiss banks in the late 1990s.

That's when a scandal broke, revealing that the monies were never returned, which led to a lawsuit that eventually issued $1.24 billion to Holocaust survivors and their heirs.

The mystery of the hidden millions would change the way the world looked at Switzerland's history in relation to World War II.

Emmanuel Tchividjian, who describes himself as Judeo-Christian, grew up in Switzerland and later moved to Boston. He embarked on a personal mission to right the wrong that he felt was 50 years overdue.

He was at SUNY Plattsburgh recently, as part of the Douglas R. Skopp Speakers Series on the Holocaust, to talk about his role in the historic case and how the public-relations firm Ruder Finn, where he used to work, played an influential part in making the Swiss banks agree to restitution.

“I never thought this would lead to a job, but it was a matter of the heart,” Tchividjian said.

PRESSING FOR RELEASE

He believes Christians today should have an attitude of repentance and forgiveness for the tragedies that have occurred in that past in the name of Christianity.

Tchividjian, who was the director of program and member services for the New England Israel Chamber of Commerce, said asking forgiveness is not good enough unless you feel a genuine need to repent and do something.

His father was an Armenian refugee who was relocated to Greece, but asked his parents to send him to boarding school in Switzerland.

Switzerland had been good to his family, so he felt he owed a debt to the country.

This motivated Tchividjian in his efforts to change the lives of the many Jewish people and their descendants who were robbed of their money.

He packed his bags for Switzerland for a three-week trip that extended into a three-month quest.

During his trip, he spoke to bankers from UBS and Lloyds bank, politicians, members of parliament, diplomats, leaders of Switzerland's Jewish community, historians, two federal Supreme Court judges, journalists, accountants and a clergyman to advocate for the refunding of the Swiss bank accounts.

'WAKE-UP CALL'

During his time in Switzerland, Tchividjian saw conflicting responses: Some people were utterly shocked about the true Swiss history in World War II, and others sympathized with the Nazis.

Because of the dormant-account scandal, Switzerland had to create the Bergier Commission, led by the Swiss historian Jean-Francois Bergier, and as a country had to revisit Switzerland's WWII history.

“I think the Swiss had a moral wake-up call, and they realized the history was not as rosy as they thought. And, I think, it’s always good for a country to acknowledge the past and change the attitude,” Tchividjian said.

He said he encountered some anti-semitism and anti-American feelings while he was conversing with Swiss diplomats. One ambassador told him: “We didn't kill them, and now they mess with us.”

ALLY

Tchividjian was introduced to Corinne Goetschel, who was on the Paul Volcker Commission, which was investigating the dormant accounts.

“Until then, my idea of the Swiss government was that it was the enemy,” he said.

Goetschel said that she, as a worker for the Swiss government and a Jew, would resign her position if she felt any antisemitic pressure in the Swiss government. She became Tchividjian’s “moral guarantee-er.”

HELP FROM U.S. FIRM

The Swiss government went to a number of firms seeking help, which all turned them down, until Ruder Finn, a public-relations company from the United States, took on the challenge.

Tchividjian was working for the Swiss government for free while Ruder Finn was being paid, but nevertheless they had the same mission. His meeting with Goetschel was the link to interacting with the Swiss banks themselves and the beginning of his relationship with Ruder Finn.

Goetschel had Hans Baer, chairman of Julius Baer Bank, the largest private bank in Switzerland, on the Paul Volcker Commission with her. The commission wanted the banker to go to Boston, so Tchividjian would organize press events for the Swiss government representative to speak in the United States about the dormant accounts.

Tchividjian organized radio, TV and newspaper interviews. Goetschel introduced him to David Finn of Ruder Finn, who so appreciated Tchividjian's passion and management of the crisis that he asked Tchividjian first to work for them on the case and later to join the firm as its ethics chair.

IMPACT

To Tchividjian, hearing from the people most affected by this scandal was one of the most difficult parts of the experience. He felt he didn't do as much as he could and to this day doesn't know how impactful he was.

He would sometimes get calls from people with relatives who had money in the dormant accounts, and he would connect them with the right people.

“But you never do what’s right because of the impact. You do what's right because it's right," he said.

Israeli opposition party leader said Israel has to recognize the Armenian Genocide and support Kurdish state amid the policy of Turkey’s president Erdogan.

Talking to reporters, Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid said time has come to stop ingratiating themselves to the Turks, who every time come and kick us harder, the Jerusalem Postreported.

“We need to say, 'okay, we understand, now we have to run our own policy: from now on we support the establishment of an independent Kurdish state, we need to recognize the Armenian genocide, we need to do all the things that we didn't do when we had good relations with Turkey, because we don't, and we will not have in the future,” he said.

He also urged to give up the idea of a gas pipeline to Turkey.

Erdogan has recently made some critical remarks in connection with the Temple Mount crisis.

(Armenpress) – Israel’s minister of regional cooperation Tzachi Hanegbi, who arrived in Armenia on an official visit on July 25, visited the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial with his delegation in Yerevan.

The Israeli high-level delegation was accompanied by Armenia’s deputy foreign minister Armen Papikyan, the Honorary Consul of Israel in Armenia Ashot Shahmuradyan, Israel’s Ambassador to Armenia Eliyahu Yerushalmi with his spouse, as well as the deputy director of the Armenian Genocide Institute Museum Suren Manukyan

The officials laid flowers at the Eternal Flame for the memory of the Armenian Genocide victims, and toured the MuseumInstitute. The Israeli minister mentioned that he is impressed with the Memorial, which in his words will touch everybody.

“Israel has always sympathized with the Armenian people, because both Armenians and Jews have survived this tragedy in their histories. The issue has been discussed for several times in the Israeli parliament, it has always been mentioned by the president, and we will always keep it in our hearts and spirits”, the Israeli minister told reporter.

“Visiting this museum leaves every visitor with two conclusions: Never again to allow such horrific acts to happen, and never forget the tragedy , keep it always alive in the human awareness and memory forever!”, the Israeli minister wrote in the guestbook.

“Now we have to run our own policy: From now on we support the establishment of an independent Kurdish state; we need to recognize the Armenian genocide; we need to do all the things that we didn’t do when we had good relations with Turkey – because we don’t – and we will not have in the future,” Jerusalem Post quoted Yair Lapid as saying.

“Turkey needs to know they cannot continue to kick Israel, and Israel will come back and ask for more”, Yair Lapid stressed.

In 2013, Yesh Atid, founded by Yair Lapid, placed second in the general election, winning 19 seats in the 120-seat Knesset. It then entered into a coalition led by Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud.

In the 2015 election, the party refused to back Netanyahu and joined the opposition after suffering a significant setback in the polls.

In September 2016 Israeli Knesset Deputy Speaker Tali Ploskov said in an interview with Mediamax that “today Israel does not have the opportunity to recognize Armenian Genocide on state level”.

In August 2011 Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said in an interview with Mediamax that “Israel has never denied the Armenian tragedy, but we do not wish to become party to the confrontation between Turkey and Armenian on this important issue”.

Same as before, only Holocaust matters for Israel the rest who cares!!!!!!

News.am, Armenia

Aug 17 2017

Israeli minister: Knesset is unlikely to recognize Armenian Genocide

16:10, 17.08.2017

Israeli Knesset is unlikely to recognize Holodomor as a genocide of the Ukrainian nation, Israeli minister told Interfax Ukraine.

Ze’ev Elkin, Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Minister of Environmental Protection, said declarative statement on Holodomor or any other tragic chapter of the history of other nations is not in compliance with Israeli “parliamentary traditions”.

He added that Israel has the same position on the Armenian Genocide recognition.

“The issue was discussed in the parliament several times, but no statement was adopted, although nearly all western parliaments have adopted declarative decisions on the matter. Israeli parliament believes that similar issues of the past must be discussed by professionals as a part of professional discussion, not politicians,” Elkin added.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (L) presents French-Armenian singer Charles Aznavour the Raoul Wallenberg medal at the presidential compound in Jerusalem in recognition of his family’s efforts to protect Jews and others persecuted during World War II (Photo: AFP)

TEL AVIV (Daily Mail) – French Armenian singing legend Charles Aznavour was honored in Israel on Thursday for his family’s efforts to protect Jews and others persecuted by the Nazis during World War II.

The 93-year-old known as France’s Frank Sinatra still performs and is due to give a concert in Tel Aviv on Saturday.

He received the honor from Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, who spoke of his love of Aznavour’s music, saying “La Boheme” was his favorite song.

Rivlin presented him with The Raoul Wallenberg Award, named for the Swedish diplomat who helped thousands of Jews flee Nazi-controlled Hungary during World War II.

Aznavour’s family “hid a number of people who were persecuted by the Nazis, while Charles and his sister Aida were involved in rescue activities,” Rivlin’s office said in a statement.

The International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation, based in New York, presents the award and Aznavour chose to receive it in Israel, it said.

Aznavour, who was born in Paris, spoke of his Armenian origins on Thursday, referring to Armenian Genocide of 1915 orchestrated by the Ottoman Empire.

His parents fled to France to escape the massacres that more than 20 countries have recognized as a “genocide”, s charge strongly denied by Turkey.

“We have so many things in common, the Jews and the Armenians, in misfortune, in happiness, in work, in music, in the arts and in the ease of learning different languages and becoming important people in the countries where they have been received,” he said.

“We have so many things in common, the Jews and the Armenians, in misfortune, in happiness, in work, in music, in the arts and in the ease of learning different languages and becoming important people in the countries where they have been received,” he said.

Aznavour’s hits have included “She,” “Hier Encore” and “La Mamma.”

He is also credited in more than 60 movies, defying detractors who pointed to his unconventional looks to become one of France’s most iconic singers.

Aznavour thanked Raoul Wallenberg Foundation for the award and the Israeli President for the reception. The world famous singer also inquired when Israel will recognize the Armenian Genocide, stressing that Jews and Armenians have many similarities.

In response, Rivlin said that it’s a political issue and the issue was raised at the parliament of Israel every year when he was a Knesset member and President. He noted that he talked about the Armenian Genocide of 1915 rather clearly at the UN in 2015.

President of Israel confessed that Tel Aviv does not recognize the
Armenian Genocide for political reasons

Yerevan October 27

Tatevik Shahunyan. The world-famous French chansonnier of Armenian
origin Charles Aznavour at the residence of Israeli President Reuven
Rivlin in Jerusalem raised the issue of recognizing the Armenian
Genocide in Tel-Aviv in Ottoman Turkey.

During the ceremony of awarding medals of the Swedish diplomat Raoul
Wallenberg for "heroic actions during the Holocaust" to Aznavour and
his sister Aide, the world famous chanson asked the Israeli leader
when Israel recognizes the Armenian Genocide.

"I will not ask you a secret question, and I do not expect an answer.
However, it is important to raise this issue. Why do not you recognize
the Armenian Genocide, while they themselves suffered from the fascist
regime? "Aznavour said.

In response, the President of Israel confessed: "Unfortunately, the
Israeli government, for political reasons, could not recognize the
tragic events in the Ottoman Empire of 1915 as genocide, but I myself
raised the issue in the Knesset and the UN."

Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian during his interview with Israel’s Public Broadcasting Corporation

Touches on Israel’s Arms Sales to Baku,, Armenia Ties to Iran

YEREVAN—In an interview with Israel’s Public Broadcasting Corporation, Armenia’s Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian said that Armenia has an expectation from Israel to recognize the Armenian Genocide. He also addressed Israel’s continued arms sales to Azerbaijan, saying that “trade of arms is not like trading vegetable,” warning that such practices have their “dark side.”

“The two nations have gone through the horrors of genocide. Many scholars, many politicians consider that in case of adequate condemnation of the Armenian Genocide it could have been possible to prevent Shoah and other genocides. That is why of course, we are expecting that Israel will officially recognize the Armenian Genocide,” said Nalbandian.

“We believe that more and more people in Israel favor the recognition, including in the Parliament. I had a meeting with the Chairman of the Knesset. He again expressed his very clear position of the importance of the recognition by Knesset of the Armenian Genocide,” Nalbandian added.

In discussing the Israel’s arms sales to Azerbaijan, Nalbandian warned of the negative consequences this practice may pose for Israel.

“The trade of arms is not a trade of vegetables and such kind of trade always has its black side, which could have some negative consequences. What’s important in Armenia’s relations with Israel is that we have no taboo for discussing all the questions, even sensitive questions we are discussing openly and we are trying to find ways out,” said Nalbandian.
Speaking of Armenia’s cooperation with Iran and the latter’s role in the region, Nalbandian said: “We have good relations with neighboring Iran, we cooperate in different fields. Taking into consideration that we have closed borders with other two neighbors, with Turkey and Azerbaijan, you have to understand that Iran and Georgia are the two neighbors with whom we have not just normal relations, but good cooperation. And we are deploying efforts with the aim to develop our bilateral cooperation and partnership.”

Nalbandian added that Armenia’s relations with Iran is “not an obstacle to Armenia’s bilateral relations with Israel, just like the Israel’s relations with any neighboring country of Armenia are not an obstacle to our relations.

Armenia and Israel have not yet exchanged Ambassadors. “Our position was very clear: as soon as Israel will open an embassy in Armenia, we will reciprocate and open an Embassy in Israel,” Edward Nalbandian said.

On Nagorno Karabakh, the Foreign Minister said: “We are never asking our friendly, partner countries to support Armenia against anybody, including Azerbaijan. On Nagorno-Karabakh issue our expectation is to support and to be in line with the position of the international community. The international community gave a mandate to the three co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group- the United States, Russia and France – to mediate the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement. This is the unique situation that the United States, Russia and France, on the level of the Presidents of those countries, adopted five statement on how the conflict could be resolved in a very detailed way with concrete principles and concrete elements elaborated as an integrated whole. And Armenia’s position is in line with the position of the Co-Chair countries, so with the position of the international community.”

The Armenian Foreign Minister stated that “the final status of Nagorno-Karabakh has to be decided by the free _expression_ of will of the population of Nagorno-Karabakh, which will have an internationally legally binding force, including for Azerbaijan. This is the position of the international community and we are expressing our support to this position, but Azerbaijan doesn’t.”

“Concerning the ceasefire violations, and by the way this is also the position of the three Co-Chair countries, so of the international community, including Armenia, that we have to respect the trilateral ceasefire agreements reached between Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan and Armenia in 1994-1995 without time limitations, three agreements about the ceasefire and about the consolidation of the ceasefire. Azerbaijan is always trying not to respect ceasefire agreements, and even to put under the question that those agreements are in force,” Edward Nalbandian stated.

“This is the difference between our position and the position of Azerbaijan. Even more, the international community through three co-chairs come up with the proposals to create investigation mechanism of violations of the ceasefire agreements. Armenia supports the proposal on the creation of mechanism of investigation of ceasefire violations which could serve as a mechanism of prevention. Azerbaijan is rejecting to creation of this mechanism, so the position of the three Co-Chair countries, of course they are mediators and could not always express their opinion about it openly and publicly. Nevertheless, they are always saying that the side, which is rejecting to create this mechanism of prevention takes the responsibility for all the violations of ceasefire,” the Armenian Foreign Minister added.

Every time Israel is embroiled with Turkey, they suddenly remember the Armenian Genocide and use it as a weapon and after that the big amnesia sets in. Please Israel either recognize the factual Armenian Genocide or stop using it as a weapon, you used it enough times already, enough is enough!

News.am, Armenia

Dec 11 2017

Israeli opposition slams Erdogan, invokes Armenian Genocide

13:29, 11.12.2017

Leader of Israel’s opposition Yesh Atid party Yair Lapid invoked the Armenian Genocide to denounce Turkish president Erdogan, Times of Israel reported.

Erdogan made critical remarks over US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem.

“Those who deny the murder of children in the Armenian genocide should not preach morality at us,” Lapid tweeted on Sunday.

Earlier Lapid has publicly called on Israel to recognize the Armenian Genocide.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said Turkey’s president was a brutal dictator who supports Palestinian terrorist groups in their efforts to “kill innocent people,” as a war of words heated up between Israel and Turkey over US President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem.

“That is not the man who is going to lecture us,” Netanyahu said at a press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris.